It’s a cold and sunny afternoon at Waubonsie Valley High School for boys’ tennis, as the Warriors take on the Mustangs of Metea Valley. Both teams are competing in an important conference matchup to get the season rolling. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Both teams battle early
Starting with singles match 1, Waubonsie Valley’s Hector Diaz and Mustang Carter Donnelly face off. Diaz gets off to a good start for the Warriors by winning the first set with a tap over the net. Moving onto the second set, Diaz holds his own through back-and-forth returns while snipping the ball to Mustang territory for a point. Diaz goes on to win in 2 straight sets for one single. The singles continue with singles match 2. Mustang Dhanush Chittaluri and Waubonsie Valley’s Guatam Mani go back and forth with their returns. Mani gets the scores in this set by hitting the ball past the Mustang for a point. Two singles continue for both tennis players. Mani holds his own in the second set and hits a fast ball over Chittaluri to seal the deal for winning two straight sets. Up next is the two doubles between Mustangs Henry Oyekanmi and Kaushik Nanduru against Waubonsie’s Hunter Cochoran and Krish Dave. Both teams get off to an intense start with multiple returns. Both Cochoran and Dave execute great teamwork, with Dave going for a hard hit on his racket for a point. The match heats up with Mustang Nanduru swinging a hard hit ball to Cochoran to put Metea on the board. The remainder of the match goes into a third set as both teams go back and forth with their returns. Dave tries to finish the match with a high swing, but the ball goes to foul territory, resulting in the Mustangs winning the third set.
Waubonsie hangs on for the win
More doubles action follows, with one double from Mustangs Rishabh Railkar and Ameya Tyagi against Waubonsie’s Revanth Kothapalli and Ishan Suresh Kumar. The Mustangs get off to a good start from Railkar, who makes a backhand swing on the ball and gets past the Warriors for a point. The green and gold respond to the call as Kumar serves in this set; he sends the ball flying to the Mustangs, then slides on the court for a good backhand swing, and Kothapalli smacks down on the ball to end the first set with a win. Into the second set, Tyagi and Railkar deliver good returns, with Railkar delivering a long-distance backhand to get another point for Metea Valley. In the end, it’s Waubonsie Valley taking home the victory with Ishan Suresh Kumar delivering the final backhand to close out set 2. Metea Valley takes home the win in three singles and three doubles, but it’s Waubonsie Valley taking home a close win for the overall match score of 4-3.
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